Dragon Girl Myra

Carl Quillen
© 2009, Carl Quillen

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 For Mairin

and her friend

Genevieve
 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

lack hairless skin flaps in the reddish twilight

breeze as I soar between peaks. The moun­
tains embrace my blood-stained form as I
glide between deep brown shadow and deep
red sunset. My belly is slung heavily below
me, weighed down by heavy chunks of flesh
torn from the ragged broken carcass of a cow left in a mountain
meadow that I’m leaving behind me as I fly into the sunset. Gi­
ant skin wings beat heavily in the air making a deep roar as the
great muscles of my breast burn with the power that pulls me
forward. I can only grin, the broad bright cutlasses of my teeth
whipping the wind, still red and dripping with gore, as I think of
the soft, juicy flesh of that happy, grass-fed cow. Partially crisped
in places where my fiery breath had cooked it, it had sweetened
the sound and quivering feel of her bones as they cracked under
the force of my teeth. I was and am, winged fire-breathing death,
the very finest of dragons.
As I soar, the perfume of cooked blood still filling my nostrils,
the focus of my bright lemon yellow eyes, each big as a hand,
smoothly drifts about, surveying the land I rule all around me.
And I see, (Oh feast for the eyes!) the delightful little figure of a
girl on the slopes below, running home for her dinner. Charm­
ing and cute. Doubtlessly tasty. They always are, the cute ones.
I dive, the wind growing to a deafening roar, tearing at every
scale on my body as I descend to greet her. Lost in the noise is
the deep booming of my chuckle. I see her stumble and fall. I
hit the ground heavily in front of her. When she rises I am there,
my grinning snout mere centimeters from her nose. As I exhale,
still panting from the work of flying, she seems to choke. No
doubt the heavy perfume of blood on my breath is too rich for
her. I turn my head to get a better look at her, and her eyes grow

4
Dragon Girl Myra

like full, yellow moons, reflecting the yellow of my eye as she

finds the full rows of my teeth in front of her.
“You’re…you’re going to eat me.”
She is trembling, her lips shaking, and I am entranced by the
great pearly drops of tears that well up and begin to fall across
her face, glistening in the twilight.

“Please. Make it fast.”

And I would oblige her. But the thing is, well, I’m embar­
rassed to say it. But my belly is full. Really, that cow was more
than even I can eat at a single sitting. So I raise a paw to my face
and begin to pick at the strings of flesh stuck in my fangs with a
claw at the tip of one of my fingers. It’s five centimeters long,

5
 Chapter 1

pure glossy black tapering to a long, delicate curved tip where the
color fades to deep orange as it reaches the apex. I admire the
jewel-like drops on her face as they slowly fall.
“I’m ready.”
Now we dragons are truly splendid creatures, remarkable in
every way. But there is one slight weakness in our construction
that I’ve often wondered at, as it so little befits the perfection of
the rest of us. And that is at the base of the neck. There’s a
funny arrangement of the heavy scales there. Sort of in the shape
of a saddle. It’s hard to imagine it, but a person could sit there if
they wanted. Not that they would last long there. For our for­
ward paws are quite dexterous and can reach that spot. Which is
quite useful for scratching at itches between the scales there―
“Come on! What are you waiting for?”
She’s impatient now. Stamping with her feet. Jeweled tears
and sweet round face, and I’m struck with a strange thought. She
is beautiful, like the big round jewels in my giant hoard of gold
and treasure. Why not, why should she not be part of it as well?
Besides, I can always eat her later, and I gently put my paw
around her, careful not to scratch her with the cruel claws as she
closes her eyes and waits for my teeth. Then, all at once, I raise
her to the saddle at my neck and place her there. Before she can
understand what’s happening, I leap into the air. She is clinging
to me with her arms wrapped around my neck, screaming as the
ground falls away. We are flying, and the saddle works really
rather well. I’ve always wondered if it would, and embarrassing
as it is, if it helps me bring my treasure home, I’m all for it.
With the last rays of the setting sun we arrive home at my
cave, high up in the shear face of a mountain cliff. I land in the
entrance, and slowly walk within with the girl on my back. The
interior is dark, but dimly lit with the glitter of jewels. Further in,
the pads of my feet meet the smooth round hardness of metal
and the musical sound of coins rubbing together fills the cave as
I walk across my store of treasure. I lower my shoulders, tilt

6
Dragon Girl Myra

them and her shivering terrified form falls onto a heap of coins
with a clatter.
“Ow!”
She shifts away from the object in the pile that hurt her and I
pick it up, a somewhat spiky and impractical ring. Not one of my
favorites. So I skewer it with a claw, pick it up, and then sitting
on my haunches, transfer it to the other paw, holding it delicately
between the sharp points of two claws.
“Here. Hold out your fingers,” I tell her.
She freezes for a second, and then looking at me with a very
blank, surprised expression, holds out her hands. I find a likely
looking finger, and put the ring on it. It fits.
Now not many people know that dragons can talk. It isn’t
really much of a secret, of course, but those people we do talk to,
well, they tend to get eaten.
“Um…” she says, after a few silent seconds.
“Now dear, why don’t you make yourself comfortable? I’m
going to go take my bath. I’ll be back soon. Make yourself at
home.”
And with that, I leave her to her thoughts, among heaps of
treasure, while I head into the depths of the cave, where I bathe
in quiet secret pools and then, with care and great dedication,
brush all my many teeth. For you see, we dragons are quite par­
ticular about our dental hygiene.
When I return she is still sitting, shocked, on the soft pile of
coins where I left her. I would talk with her, but I’m tired. So I
simply walk up beside her. With her seated there I’m amused to
discover that my long neck and even longer tail are enough to
reach all the way around her. So I fall asleep that way while she
sits rigidly against my side, afraid to move in the dark, with her
widely rounded eyes blinking rapidly.

7
 Chapter 1

* * *

The rising light of morning raised a shimmering glare of

sparkles among the treasures of my cave, waking me. My open­
ing eyes were delighted by the sight of my newest gem, standing
over by the entrance peering out from the high cliff onto the
verdant countryside. My movements rattled the coins, and she
turned toward me, and my eyes, sharp enough to spot a mouse at
the height of a thousand meters saw that hers were tired, sur­
rounded by the dark rings of a sleepless night.
“Good morning. I don’t think I caught your name last night,”
I asked.
“Myra.”
She seemed to have very little curiosity. But I pushed forward
anyway, trying to start the conversation.

8
Dragon Girl Myra

“Mine’s Bruce. But to say it properly, you should make the

end slide so that it sounds like the hissing of a snake. Like
‘Brusssssssssssce’. I like it that way. I’m related to snakes you
know.”
Myra made a little sour expression. Doubtlessly a little irritable
from the lack of sleep.
“Well Bruce. Are you hungry enough to eat me now? I’d
rather that than jumping from this cliff. Now that I think about
it.”
“Oh. There won’t be any need for that. At my age, young
maidens are really too rich for my delicate digestion. And hon­
estly, as you are rather decorative, I thought I might add you to
my little collection of baubles.” I waved my snout over to my
vast collection of treasure, which is not in any sense little. But I
always tend to speak too modestly you know. It’s something of a
character defect.
“What was this ring for? Am I married to you now?” she
asked, rather bitterly.
“Now for a marriage, there are certain legal procedures. Be­
sides, you are not at all old enough for such a thing. And the
lady involved usually must consent. No―I have merely added
you to my collection of treasures. For that, I never ask anyone’s
permission.” I gave my best smile, revealing all my very fine
teeth.
She looked a trifle dismayed for a moment, and then simply
stated “Well, if I’m going to stay, I’m going to need to find some
place to go pee. And after that, I’m going to need to be fed. I
completely missed my dinner last night.”
Well, I can’t vouch for other dragons. But in my cave, at least,
you can find every modern convenience that a young lady might
need, and in fact she was much happier when I showed them to
her. Food was a more complicated problem.

9
 Chapter 1

“I could find you a deer. I’d cook her for you. Very cute and
very tasty. They’re especially good when well done. Smoked
with dragon breath.”
“No.”
“How about a bear? A little fatty for my taste, though.”
“No.”
“Well perhaps we could borrow a sheep from a local farmer.
They tend to clear out quickly if I do that too much, so I don’t
often. Not unless I need a quick snack―”
“No!”
Heavens. How horrible. She couldn’t possibly be vegetarian.
That would be unthinkable!
“I want my morning porridge. Just like usual! And what will
Mom and Dad be saying? I haven’t come home all night long.”
“Oh don’t worry about that! Parents tend not to complain too
much when their daughter comes back early in the morning after
being unexpectedly out all night, when she returns on the back of
a five ton fire-breathing dragon! Yes, I’ll bring you home in a
few minutes.”
That quieted her for a little. So I continued.
“Really, we can’t have you missing school can we. And I can’t
cook porridge. Also your appearance wouldn’t be so fetching if
you were always mopey and sad. So I’ll have you stay at home,
and you’ll just have to come visit often.”
“Oh I like that idea. Um… not that this cave wouldn’t be nice
to live in and everything,” said Myra, brightening up immensely.
“Now, I never give away my treasure once I take it. But as
you are mine and what’s your’s is mine, you can certainly have
some of my jewelry. How about this?”
I handed her a delightful little necklace with a charming ruby
pendant, small enough not to weigh her down inordinately.

10
Dragon Girl Myra

Really rather tasteful, in my opinion. She accepted it, and I tried

to help her put it on. But long claws are really not the right thing
for working a delicate clasp on a necklace, so she had to do that
herself.
Then I observed “Perhaps that ring I lent you isn’t the best
thing for you. Why don’t you pick out something you like your­
self?” and she did, finding one much more delicate and comfort­
able looking. Then I placed her on my back, and we zoomed off
into the sunrise. This time with no screaming. She was becom­
ing quite a capable dragon rider.
I returned to the field where I had found her, and she pointed
the way to her home, which was a small house in the center of a
small village. I circled it once, taking it all in, and then just for
the entertainment value, swooped in shrieking my loudest, using
the cry I favor when stunning my prey with terror. It worked
rather well. Nobody said anything at all when she jumped off my
back, casually tossed off a “see ya later, Bruce” and hopped up
the steps to her house, with her parents looking on. They were
rather pallid and shaky looking I thought. Then I let out a large
burst of flame, just to impress the neighbors, and leapt into the
air with the loudest roar I could muster. As my wings beat
against the clear sky the village streets filled with people scream­
ing in fear, looking more with every second like panicked ants. I
savored a long, deep chuckle and faded into the morning sky.

11
 Chapter 1

12
Dragon Girl Myra

Chapter 2
The long-drawn arrow shape of my shadow stumbled on the
ground below as I glided towards the field where I knew I’d find
her, skipping home from school in the early afternoon. I let my
shadow flash over Myra, and her eyes caught sight of it sweeping
forward ahead of her. She was smiling broadly as I circled
around and slowed to land gently in front of her.
“Hi Bruce! It’s really nice out today, isn’t it? How are you do­
ing?” she called to me as I landed.
“Oh I’m great. How would you like to go visit the seashore?
It’s certainly the right kind of day for it, and it won’t take long,
flying.”
It was easily agreed to. She ran off home to find a swimming
suit and a towel and a few minutes later we were leaping into the
air together as I let out a happy, blood-curdling shriek that must
have made folks jump for miles around.
We glided off in the bright afternoon sun, chatting together
happily.
“So how is school going these days?” I asked, a bit curious as
to the reaction people might have had to her showing up with a
ruby pendant the size of a baby’s fist dangling from her neck.
Not to mention the wild rumors of an undesirable attachment to
a dragon that must be swirling about. Especially after last week,
when I’d insisted on flying her there in the morning.
“Well, people have been a little more reserved lately. And it’s
a bit surprising that nobody has said anything about this pretty
jewelry I’m wearing. I imagine it breaks some school rules too.”
“Well, it really is the only thing to do, if you are the ornament
of a dragon. If your teachers should complain, I’ll just have to
explain it to them in person. I’m sure they’ll be understanding.”
And I smiled, toothily.

13
 Chapter 2

We soon reached the shore, and I picked a quiet section of

white flat beach to settle down on. We amused ourselves pran­
cing about in the sand, Myra leaving delicate little footprints in
the center of the huge, three-toed ones I scattered everywhere.
Then I taught Myra how to water-ski on her bare feet, while I
flew rapidly, towing her holding on to the end of my long tail.
Towards the end of the afternoon we amused ourselves making
elaborate sand castles, which I am fond of making and even
fonder of destroying in dragonly ways.
After I had flambéed the last one in a enormous gout of dense
dragon flame, I noticed a hint of a delicious sinuous form sliding
just beneath the waves a little offshore. I turned to Myra, whis­
pering.
“Look! Just there. That’s really something very special…”
The beautiful webbed ears of a sea monster appeared above
the waves, followed by the bright green eyes and scaled head of a
giant, graceful snake-like creature. Myra gasped.
With great pleasure I explained. “It’s one of my more interest­
ing relatives. A sea dragon. We should say hello.”

14
Dragon Girl Myra

But before I could get a chance, the sea dragon spoke and in­
troduced herself.
“Hi. I’m Evangeline. And behind you, hiding in a bush is my
maiden. Genevra! Why don’t you come out now? The moun­
tain dragon won’t bother you. Certainly not with me here. And
besides, I think he’s rather tame.”
“Tame?” I didn’t know what to make of it. “No one has ever
accused me of that before!” I spluttered rather surprised.

“Hi Evangeline. I’m Myra, and this is my friend Bruce. Nice

to meet you too, Genevra, that’s a pretty name,” said Myra, turn­
ing to Genevra, who came out from hiding at the edge of the
beach, where she’d apparently been concealed for at least a few
minutes.
Evangeline nodded to Myra, and then continued: “Yes tame.
You know the story about maidens taming unicorns?”
“Yes, I have heard of that―”
“Well it’s true. But you know, not all little girls like horses.”
“Absolutely wretched things.” agreed Myra.

15
 Chapter 2

“Loathsome. Can’t abide them.” chimed in Genevra.

“So you see, you’ve been tamed. In exactly the same way as a
unicorn. By a girl. They’re quite dangerous, you know. The cute
ones.”
How appalling. But you know, somehow the thought didn’t
seem to bother me.
“My maiden doesn’t seem to have done me much harm now,
has she.” I said, smiling broadly and looking at Myra rather
fondly.
Evangeline smiled back and replied “I quite like Genevra too.
But I do seem to be getting wrapped up a little in human affairs.
For example, right now we were getting together to plan a little
surprise for some pirates that have been bothering Genevra’s vil­
lage.”
“Pirates! What fun! Now they don’t make very good eating,
as they tend to be rather unhealthy and unclean. But I always en­
joy the challenge of getting the treasure out of their boat before it
goes to the bottom,” I said rather enthusiastically. “Do you
think we could tag along?”
“You dragons won’t argue over the spoils?” asked Myra, a little
worried, as she knew my propensities.
“Well, you know, they say the riches on land are nothing com­
pared to the splendors hidden beneath the waves. In fact I hear
the walls of sea-dragon caves are often pure gold,” I said, hope­
fully.
“It’s true. There’s nothing that stands up to the corrosion of
salt water quite as well. Bruce, if you care to amuse yourself by
taking a few minor trifles from some pirates, please don’t hold
back for my sake. I’m afraid I have to be very selective these
days with new baubles, as my cave is quite full.”
I felt a little crestfallen. The idea of a massive undersea cav­
ern, not only lined with pure gold, but filled end to end with

16
Dragon Girl Myra

every jewel and nugget of precious metal that could be found in

an entire ocean basin struck even me as rather excessive. I would
never match it. Not in a thousand lifetimes.
“Well Myra, why don’t you go scout around with Bruce a little
from the air and see if you can find those hoodlums? Evangeline
can swim very fast carrying me, but I think you two will be able
to see further from high up. It will take less time to find them
that way,” proposed Genevra.
I was rather impressed with how practical she was, and Myra
took no time to agree. But she also thought it might be nice to
have a little snack first, and we dragons found that suited us per­
fectly. So Evangeline caught some fish for everyone, demonstrat­
ing some of the fine angling skills which sea dragons are
renowned for. Her very long, barbed tongue was really the per­
fect tool for skewering fish, arcing out of her delicate snout like a
bolt of lightning, always finding its target. She rapidly accumu­
lated a pile of brightly colored iridescent fish which were delight­
ful raw, having a fine refreshing favor. It really was excellent,
and easy to digest, too. I resolved to eat more of it in the future.
The girls enjoyed it as well, but preferred theirs cooked, so I
smoked a few slowly for them.
After the snack, Myra and I cast ourselves into the air, looking
for the pirates. In fact it didn’t take long to find them. They
were less than 20 kilometers away, clearly visible for me. We
glided off towards them with Genevra and Evangeline nearly
matching our speed below, leaving a long white wake behind
them as they raced along the ocean surface.
I have to say, even I had to feel a little sorry for the pirates,
who were set upon, simultaneously, by a charging sea dragon
fully three times as long as their ship and moving just as fast as
the fire breathing dragon that arrived in a full power-dive shriek­
ing at the top of its lungs from above. I was a blur of motion,
grabbing pirates with my claws and tossing them overboard to
move them out of the way as I tore through the ship deck look­

17
 Chapter 2

ing for anything that glittered. In a few minutes it was over, my

mouth stuffed full of gold (the only convenient place to stow it
when I’m flying around) and the empty broken hull of the ship
rapidly taking on water with the tattered sails on the broken
masts above in flames.
When I looked over the side I saw that Evangeline had
gathered up the pirates. They were lined up atop a loop of her
long, sinuous body looking very sad. I wondered what she was
doing. Washing them a little and preparing them for eating?
“We’re going to bring these fellows to a deserted island I
know. It will keep them out of trouble. I think there’s just
enough water and food there to keep them alive. They’ll have to
work for a living. I imagine it will be very good exercise for
them,” said Evangeline.
Wouldn’t it be more fun to just watch them drown or get
eaten by sharks? But Myra caught the train of my thought and
whispered to me “That’s Genevra’s idea, I’m sure. She must be
very kind-hearted.” I had to agree.
So we said goodbye, me mumbling rather badly with the treas­
ure filling my mouth, and soared off home, after promising to
come visit sometime soon. It had been a very enjoyable after­
noon.

* * *

We returned to visit Genevra a few days later. It was clear

weather inland where Myra and I lived, but as we flew closer it
was obvious that a storm was offshore. The surf was very high
and the waters were troubled.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to see Evangeline today,” I noted
to Myra over my shoulder, as she gripped me tightly, a little dis­

18
Dragon Girl Myra

concerted by the turbulent air. Another byproduct of the distant

storm.
“Why is that?”
“I doubt she will want to come ashore on a day like today. I’m
sure she could manage it if she really needed, but why take the
chance? Just like I won’t fly without reason when the weather is
bad. Sea dragons and mountain dragons are much alike in some
ways,” I explained.
“Oh. Well I hope you aren’t too disappointed,” she said sym­
pathetically, quite understanding my feelings.
“We’ll just have to come again. But hey, look over there! I see
a raft over by the island where we left the pirates.”
Myra was a little peeved. “I don’t even see the island!”
“It looks like those fellows got industrious and built them­
selves something to escape with. Say, we have to help those fel­
lows out. The sea’s really too rough today for them to make a
safe go of it.”
“You have something in mind?”
I didn’t answer, but started beating my wings quickly in a rapid
descent towards them. Those pirates were being quite consider­
ate. Really brightening up my day.
“Bruce, could you please warn me when you’re going to start
your attack shriek? It always hurts my ears―”
I started screaming. Out of pure excitement. I figured that
having been subjected to one of my attacks before it might bring
back some good memories in those pirates. Something to think
about in the few minutes before I reached them.
“Um Bruce. By ‘helping them out’ I hope you had something
else in mind, other than killing them…”

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 Chapter 2

“You mean I can’t help them along in their journey to the next
world? They’re so unsightly while alive, I think it would be a fa­
vor,” I said, joking with her a little.
“No. You have to bring them back to the island,” insisted
Myra.
I shrieked again for good measure.
By the time we arrived, the pirates were furiously paddling
back to the island. But they were having trouble in the heavy
swells, and were probably too terrified to really do it effectively.
So I helped them out. I grabbed them two at a time in my claws,
and then flew, partially dragging them through the water to light­
en the load, ferrying them over to the island where I dropped
them close in to the beach. A few were foolish enough to jump
off the raft in order to avoid me before I could get them all
transported, but I managed to scoop them out of the water be­
fore they drowned. When I was done I was quite proud of my­
self. None of them were bleeding too seriously, and I hadn’t
broken any of their bones. Well, not many anyway. Then I took
care of the raft.
When I was done I landed on the beach to rest for a few
minutes. I really enjoyed looking over the pirates. They were
miserable. It warmed my heart to see them.
Myra said “Look at them! They’re really cold and sad.”
That gave me an idea. “Let me warm them up!” And before
Myra could say anything, I sent a large burst of flame in their dir­
ection. They became really quite lively again.
“Bruce! Leave them alone!”
“Gee Myra, you’re spoiling all my fun.” But I suppose, hon­
estly speaking, I’d already had quite enough. So we continued on
to Genevra’s house, where her parents were really not at all sur­
prised to find a young lady arriving to visit on the back of a
dragon. I suppose after having a sea monster befriend their
daughter, nothing would disconcert them.

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Dragon Girl Myra

Myra went up to join Genevra in her room. After being bored

alone by myself for a while I rapped at the window until they
opened it, then I put my head through into the room in order to
say hello.
“Hi Bruce!” said Genevra, patting my snout lightly in a friendly
way.
“Hi Genevra,” I replied. “Say, I have a little present for you.
Well, properly speaking, it’s for Evangeline. But you should wear
it,” and I gave her a necklace with a nice emerald pendant, similar
to the one that Myra wore.
“He means, you see, that since you belong to Evangeline,
when he gives you a present, he’s really giving it to her,” ex­
plained Myra, in a whispering voice.
“I figured that out already. Dragons really are funny that way.
Thinking we belong to them,” whispered back Genevra.
But of course I have excellent hearing and didn’t miss a word.
Not that it matters, because while dragons have first-rate eye­
sight, excellent hearing, and a nose that most dogs would envy,
they are also extremely tactful creatures. So I pretended other­
wise. And I removed my head from the window to allow them
some freedom of conversation. Which was a happy one, full of
little girl talk that I overheard for a while from three meters be­
low through the glass pane of the window, before it lulled me to
a peaceful sleep.
I woke to the pleasant sensation of a lady’s hand, lightly
scratching me between the eyes, the way I like it most, and I rose
with a smile.
It was Myra. “Hi Bruce. Done with your nap?”
She was standing together with Genevra. Mirroring her smile.
“If you like,” I said. “Have any plans?”
“Do you think you can fly both of us together?” asked Genev­
ra.

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 Chapter 2

“Why I don’t think it will be any problem. My saddle is big

enough, and if Myra thinks you won’t have any trouble holding
on, I can’t see why not. Where were you two thinking of going?”
“Well, have you ever heard of edelweiss, you know, the
flower?” asked Myra.
“Why yes. They’re very pretty. They grow in the mountains
near my cave as a matter of fact. But you know flowers aren’t
like gold and jewels. Not an enduring beauty you know.”
“Neither are little girls.”
“Myra, you’ll always be beautiful to me. But I imagine you’d
like to go find one?” I said, in quite good humor after my nap.
“If you don’t mind.”
“It will be rough in the air today. But I suppose that won’t
bother you Genevra, now that you’ve gotten used to traveling on
the sea with Evangeline.”
“I never get seasick. You’ll be OK too Myra?”
“Yes. Besides I have to fly home anyway. So it won’t be
much further,” Myra responded cheerily.
So we headed
off to the high
alpine meadows
together. Myra
did end up look­
ing a little green
eventually as the
flying really was
rather difficult
over some of the
peaks. We stopped
for a little while
on a high snow-
covered gentle

22
Dragon Girl Myra

slope where I taught them how to make snow-dragon impres­

sions in the snow by lying back and moving your arms and legs.
I made some myself too. Then we were off again looking for
edelweiss. I was able to see some on a narrow high ledge just big
enough to let me land. So we picked a small bouquet, and then
stood for a few minutes on the ledge, buffeted by the heavy
winds, admiring the fuzzy pure snowy white petals of the little
flowers we held in our hands and claws.
Then we went off to visit my cave. Genevra and Myra happily
spent an hour investigating my treasure, with Genevra telling me
that although I might never come close to matching a sea dragon
with my hoard, the jewelry in my collection was very fine; much
better than the few crude items that ever survived a shipwreck.
This was very comforting. It had never occurred to me that the
vast nuggets of virgin gold and raw uncut jewels in Evangeline’s
cavern might be matched by the fine human craftsmanship in my
hoard.
Then we flew to Myra’s house for a short visit and Genevra
stayed for dinner. Afterwards I took her back home alone. The
wind had calmed down by then and Genevra was not wrong
when she promised me that if I went down to the beach I might
be able to meet Evangeline briefly. She was too tired to want to
go herself, so she sent me down with a word to greet her, and I
was very glad of the excuse to go.
Under the stars to the soft sound of waves breaking, I gave
Evangeline an edelweiss. And wouldn’t you know, she really
likes flowers.

23
 Chapter 2

24
Dragon Girl Myra

Chapter 3
Myra was spending the afternoon, busily working away on
homework in my cave. She always says she likes the way light re­
flects off the gold, illuminating her books and the paper she
writes on with a happy yellow-tinged light. Of course I always
enjoy having her close by, because, well, she’s rather decorative
and she’s very pleasant company.
After admiring the honest, diligent expression on her face as
she worked for a while I eventually had to break the silence.
“Um Myra,” I gently interrupted.
“Hmmm?” she mumbled, still looking at her paper, then glan­
cing up at me.
“You have school vacation next week, don’t you?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m so busy. Studying for exams. And this
is usually such a good place to do that. Quiet and peaceful.
Much better than home. But what’s troubling you, Bruce?”
“Ah well. Did you know that next week is the Grand Dragon
Assembly?”
“No. What’s that?”
“Well, every hundred years or so dragons get together for a re­
union. It’s kind of a dragon convention. It’s a lot of fun.”
“Oh? Is Evangeline going?”
“Yes. She’s planning to take Genevra too. Would you like to
go?”
“Now how do you know that? Genevra would have told me
when we last visited,” asked Myra a little doubtfully.
“Evangeline texted me. See?” I said, proudly showing her my
new phone. It hadn’t been easy to learn how to text with my
claws, but actually I was getting rather good at it―

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“Hey! When did you get that?” asked Myra rather sharply.
“Oh well they make really neat waterproof ones now. So
Evangeline got one. Apparently she gets great reception in the
upper reaches of her cavern. So naturally I needed one too. And
actually now I’m rather happy about the cell tower that went up
last year on the neighboring mountain peak…”
“Even I don’t have a cell phone! My parents won’t let me.
What’s next? Will my cat get one before I do?” she was really
starting to sound annoyed.
“Oh, I don’t think a cat can text. So there wouldn’t really be
any point―”
“What are all these heart signs in the message? Hey! This
phone is a waterproof model too! Just exactly what have you
been up to?” she said, now eyeing me rather suspiciously.
“Ah yes. Well. Evangeline. She’s a mighty fine dragoness.
Yes indeed,” I said, beaming. Sometimes a good smile is the
best answer.
Myra glared at me for a few seconds, and then thought the
better of it.
“So where is this convention, anyway?” she asked.
“Oh this time it’s on a very nice tropical island in the middle
of the ocean. It should be a lot of fun!”
“And I won’t get eaten?”
“Of course not. You know dragon maidens are rather rare,
and as dragon assemblies are so infrequent, well, I don’t remem­
ber seeing one there. Everyone will make a big fuss over you and
Genevra.”
“I suppose it would be fun to go together. It’s not like I have
any other plans for vacation.”
“Oh good. Um…I hope you don’t mind but since the Grand
Dragon Assembly is a very formal affair, you will be expected to

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Dragon Girl Myra

wear some rather traditional clothing. I think you’ll like it.

Would you like to try it on?” I asked, handing her a rather eleg­
antly made jeweled tiara and a white delicately embroidered gown
made of very fine linen.
“That looks pretty. Let me have a look,” she said taking it
from me and heading back into the cave.
A few minutes later she returned, looking very pleased, and
she could easily have been mistaken for a princess. A very en­
chanting one at that.
“Do you like it? Those are traditional dragon maiden vest­
ments.”
“Yes,” and she couldn’t help smiling, blushing a little as she
did it. “The Assembly sounds like fun. I’d like to go.”

* * *

A few days later we were off. It was a long trip, and at several
places I was going to have to fly hops between islands at the lim­
its of my flying range. In order to make this as safe as possible it
seemed wiser to lighten my flying load. So Genevra and Myra
traveled together with Evangeline while I flew on above, listening
to the sound of their happy giggling bouncing from wave to
wave across the entire ocean. We spent a day and a half this way,
traveling together off and on when the most efficient route for
flying overlapped with the one by sea, and we arrived together on
the beach at our destination.
It was a small tropical island only a few kilometers across. The
dark cone of a volcano rose in the center emerging out of heavy
tropical forest. In places the dark rock was deeply cut by emer­
ald-green ravines. The forests reached down close to the beach,
and their edges revealed a think tangle of ferns, brightly colored
tropical flowers and palm trees. The constant chatter of birds

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faintly emerged from the thicket and was audible on the beach,
providing a steady light music of atonal whistles and trills, punc­
tuated at intervals by the deep bass of a distant roar.
“Ah. Some of the other dragons must be here. I can hear
their song,” said Evangeline with some excitement.
The ground shook with deep tones like a church organ, sound­
ing just plausibly like the noise a whale-sized dragon might make.
“Just how big are these dragons anyway?” asked Genevra with
some concern.
“I think the largest of them will fit on the island. Don’t you,
Evangeline? Of course sea dragons can be truly titanic,” I ob­
served.
“Oh well there are some that are really too big to set foot on
land. In fact a few of those little islands nearby really aren’t, if
you look closely. It might be fun to go say hello to them later
on.”
Now that she mentioned it, one of the large rocky crags across
the bay from us moved slightly and then winked at us.
“They have good hearing, too, don’t they?” said Myra. “I
hope they’ll enjoy the assembly from where they are. Here
Genevra, why don’t we get changed into our vestments? If we
are going to be dragon maidens, perhaps we should look the
part.”
They went off a little way into the forest and returned a short
time later, looking like they had stepped out of a fairy-tale. The
sea dragon in the bay let out a deep appreciative rumble and we
waved back to him.

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Dragon Girl Myra

A dark shadow flickered overhead. Looking up we saw a large

bright ruby-red dragon swooping away. He did a barrel roll, then
turned around and flew down to meet us. He was too big for the
beach, so he landed in the shallow water slightly offshore. The
waves steamed as they touched his feet. His entire skin was
glowing, and the heat radiating from it warmed our skin as we
looked at him.
“Hey Rex! It’s been a long time! How are you doing? It’s
good to see you again!” I said in greeting, walking up to slap him
on the back, and then quickly, cooling my hand in the water.
“Bruce. You old dog. You’re looking good. But hey, you
really need to introduce me to the lovely ladies you’re escorting,”
and he bowed deeply to Evangeline and to the girls.
So I did. Rex in turn was delightfully charming and civilized.
Still rather young for a dragon, the last hundred years had mel­
lowed his personality, and he was very entertaining, delighted to
show the girls his flame. He could make it in a rainbow of colors,
some of which were hot enough to melt rock. It was all very im­

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pressive. We talked for a while about various things as other

dragons slowly arrived, descending in a scream from overhead, or
slithering out from the water onto the beach. Occasionally a
Chinese dragon would float by, the waves of their long furry
body silently drifting on the breeze like a magic carpet.
“So Ralph has had a very hard time of it. His king has gotten
his country in any number of stupid wars. So he has to do his
part with the invading armies. But you know, he doesn’t have
enough self-control, and with all the food that’s been marching
in his direction, well he’s gotten really obese…”
A loud electric crackling sound emerged from behind one of
the nearby palm trees, and then, the blue whiskered head of a
tiny dragon shyly revealed itself. It was an electric dragon, really
not much bigger than a man.
“Twiggly! Don’t hide yourself! Come out and say hello!”
Called out Rex to the new arrival.

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Dragon Girl Myra

I laughed, delighted. Rex and Twiggly were two of my best

friends. Twiggly shyly emerged, sparkling from head to toe with
the blue flashes of electric sparks.
“Twiggly is a really fun little guy, you’re going to like him. But
don’t get carried away and try to shake his hand. He’s from the
branch of the family related to electric eels you know,” I
whispered to Genevra and Myra.
“Aren’t dragons related to snakes too? How do you reconcile
that with Linnaean classification?” wondered Myra aloud.
“Shhhh,” said Genevra, elbowing her.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Twiggly,” said Evangeline, gently
smiling. “Why don’t we all head over to the assembly arena? I’m
sure we’ll see more old friends there. I’d like to introduce you to
some of mine.”
We had no trouble at all agreeing to such a sensible proposal,
and so we started off together walking (and slithering) up a broad
mossy path toward the center of the island, where the distant
booming of loud roars and fearsome shrieks gave a festive excite­
ment to the atmosphere, while Rex explained at length and with
great humor the many improbable twists and convolutions in
dragon genealogy.

* * *

The sky had darkened to a fathomless deep purple punctured

everywhere by stars that dimly let through the light of heaven.
Down below, dark monstrous forms lumbered in a clearing in
the shadow of a single ominously fuming volcanic peak, and the
eternal peace of the heavens above was assailed by deep rumbles
from cavernous throats and the occasional blood-curdling
scream of a lesser dragon.

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“Festive, isn’t it!” I whispered to Myra, who was standing,

holding Genevra’s hand and, along with her, looking very regal.
Only a slightly stiff pose, pale face and a slight tremor in her
lower lip revealed any want of composure.
“It’s…unique. A remarkable gathering,” she said with a voice
that was struggling for calm.
“Yes…yes. This is really quite memorable. Peerless,” said
Genevra, bravely rising to the occasion.
Just then, Rex, I and all the other fire-breathing dragons cast
our best flame upwards as tradition demanded. The darkness
vanished, leaving our eyes blinded by the fading echoes of fire
and our faces hot from the radiated heat. When we could see
again a giant Chinese dragon drifted into view, the ghostly pearl
gray of his thick fur pelt fluttering on the breeze as his many
hundred legs walked on air, moving in waves, carrying him over­
head across the sky to a ledge above on the volcano. The glow­

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Dragon Girl Myra

ing phosphorescence of his fur contrasted sharply against the

dark shadowy rock of the mountain. His eyes glowed and sent
out bright beams that lit up whatever he looked at like a spot­
light, and the beams danced gracefully among the huddled mon­
sters in the crowd below. Silence descended like a thunderclap,
leaving only the sound of distant echoes returning from the caco­
phony before.
“Dragons…” a deep rich ancient voice descended from the
mountain, from the oldest and wisest of us all, the Great Dragon.
“…those of you here, those of you near…” He continued.
A tremendous deep rumble bounced the earth. It was the roar
from the colossal sea dragons waiting offshore.
“and those who attend only in our minds and memories. Wel­
come. To our rare and beautiful guests, welcome,” and the light
of his gaze lit up Myra and Genevra, revealing their pure white
forms, glinting with the jewels and gold that they wore.
“As we meet again on this sacred ground, the world needs us
as never before. Our hoards underpin the world financial sys­
tem…”
A couple of very prosperous looking financial dragons nearby
snickered cynically as he said this.
“Our new victories on the congressional elections in ______
and the Parliament of ______ are increasing transparency and in­
tegrity in Government…”
Here I couldn’t help whispering to Myra “and thinning out the
ranks as we eat it I imagine!”
“And the valiant efforts of dragons like Ralph Sharptooth,
who recently received the Order of ______ for unparalleled mil­
itary service, contribute to security everywhere. I’m sorry to hear
that Ralph couldn’t be here due to severe indigestion.”
Rex couldn’t resist a cheer: “Ralph!”

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The Great Dragon opened his mouth to continue the speech,

but before he could get a word out, a loud explosion disturbed
the assembly, and a spire of rock collapsed near the bottom of
the volcano. The dirty leathery form of a strange stooped
creature briefly appeared at the base of it, looked around with
alarm, and then with a loud “Oops!” vanished.
The Great Dragon muttered “Trolls!” and then remained
speechless with anger for a second. Composing himself, he
calmly said,
“It seems they have chosen this moment to disturb our sacred
assembly. Perhaps a few of the smallest of you, the best at navig­
ating narrow caves might have a word with them.”
Twiggly and I rose. “That’s us!” we chanted in unison. “Here
Myra, why don’t you stay here with Genevra and Evangeline
while we deal with this. You won’t want to miss any of the Great
Dragon’s speech or the celebration afterwards.”
Myra seemed quite charmed by the Great Dragon, and was
much more relaxed than before. “That’s fine Bruce. Don’t take
too long.”
So we scampered off to the collapsed pile of stone at the edge
of the clearing where the troll had appeared, followed by a few
other small dragons. As we went I enjoyed the happy sounds of
Genevra and Myra whispering to each other.
“I had no idea that dragons were such a big part of modern
life! Government, finance, the military, it’s really astonishing!”
It’s true. The world would really be quite a mess without us.

* * *

We easily found the entrance of a cave stinking of the sour

smell of unwashed troll flesh, and we all wriggled in the entrance.

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Dragon Girl Myra

The opening widened within, and soon we were proceeding

through a vast, dark hallway, quiet except for the sound of our
footsteps.
“It’s funny, they were so noisy just a few minutes ago. What
happened to them?” I wondered aloud. “We better let them
know we’re here,” and I let out a loud roar, quite deafening in the
enclosed corridor.
It was silent for a second, then we heard a distant boom,
which began slowly repeating, every five seconds or so.
“Sounds like a battle drum,” observed Twiggly. Then we
turned to each other and smiled.
“How considerate. They’re letting us know where they are!”
observed one of our companions, and then we all ran off giggling
in the direction of the noise.
After 10 minutes or so of racing down dark passageways illu­
minated only by the soft glowing of our eyes we began to get
close. We let out roars in greeting as we approached. The drum­
ming seemed to get quite irregular right at the end. Perhaps the
drummer was excited to finally have a chance to meet us.
We burst into a giant cavern filled with armored trolls march­
ing in lockstep and holding long spears, wicked sharp metal
points glinting in the semi-darkness.
“They put on a parade for us! What fun! How nice of them,”
commented Twiggly joyfully, and we all lit up the cavern with
our flame in order to get a better view. And fortunately the fire
did clear the air a little, which was stale and stinking a bit of mol­
dering cabbage. The trolls reacted enthusiastically, scampering
about with abandon, somewhat breaking the symmetry of their
pretty formation. We all took part in the fun for several minutes
chasing them about and dancing with them, teaching them new
dragon songs which we roared out in flame. After a few minutes,
we were lying on our backs in the cavern, collapsed with laughter.
The trolls seemed to have all vanished, leaving only a few charred

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shoes and other items of clothing behind in their rush for the
exits.
“That was really fun. We should come play with them more
often!” I observed, and was met with complete agreement.
“I wonder if these folks keep any treasure.” remarked one of
our companions, wistfully.
“They seemed rather poor for cave trolls, didn’t they?” said
Twiggly.
It was true. A lot had been missing shoes. Some had been
wearing rags. None had worn any gold or jewelry at all, and
most were thin from poor nutrition. But they had all had plenty
of weapons.
“Well, why don’t we go find their king. Maybe we should talk
with him directly.”
So we went off in search of the King. Which wasn’t as hard as
you might imagine. We’d just smell out where a troll was hiding,
and then Twiggly would go up and introduce himself and shake
the fellow’s hand. That’s a bad habit of his, given how electrified
he is. But anyway, after a few friendly handshakes and pats on
the back, the fellow would usually be happy to help us out and
on our way.
We were directed to a large elegant palace in the depths of the
caves. I went up to the large gilded door and knocked. It
splintered easily into large chunks and we entered through the
ragged opening into the interior.
“The D-D-D-Dragons!!! 　 They’ve found us!” yelled a flunky,
announcing our entrance in the grand formal style. I personally
prefer it when they play trumpets, but I wasn’t complaining.
I grabbed the flunky. “Hey, where’s the King and what’s he
called anyway?”

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Dragon Girl Myra

“The Great Leader’s name is ‘Kim Junk Ick’,” he said limply,

pointing in the direction of a golden throne, which was on an el­
evated platform up a few steps over in the interior of the palace.
How barbaric. I suppose being cursed with a name like that
might give anyone some problems. And that Ick character
seemed to have a few. He was sitting on his throne having his
feet massaged by several hideously obese and ugly troll girls. It
was kind of sad, really, to see them that way, after all the under­
nourished ones we’d seen outside the palace.
“Hey Ick!” I called out to him. “About disturbing the sacred
Dragon Assembly―”
“How dare you imperialist running-dog Dragons invade my
great and prosperous nation! I will retaliate a thousand times
with merciless military blows! Ha ha ha ha.” raved Ick.
The insane giggling was so improbable that we just had to
laugh. And we did, all of us together for a few moments. It was
hilarious.
But Ick didn’t respond well to our amusement.
“How dare you perpetrate your shameless aggressions against
my glorious nation! Ha ha ha!”
I had to wipe a tear from my eye, I was laughing so hard.
“Hey, Ick. Let up a little. My sides are starting to hurt from the
laughing.”
“If you do not leave immediately, I will wreak my anger against
my multitudinous hostages!” he said, his face turning bright red,
as he jumped up and down in rage. But he still couldn’t stop the
insane giggling.
“Hostages?” asked one of the other dragons.
“Little girls. Ha ha ha ha!”

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This stopped our laughter. It was too much, to think of this

maniac abducting little girls. The grim faces of six angry dragons
stared at each other with Ick chuckling in the background.
“Hey―what happened to Twiggly?” I said, suddenly noticing
his absence. Then I saw him. He’d been unable to resist his af­
fectionate feelings for the prominent great man, the fearless clair­
voyant wise leader, and had gone over to hug him.
“Twiggly! Don’t! Noooo―” I yelled with alarm. But it was
too late.
“ZZZZZZT!” It was the loud sound of a high-voltage elec­
trical arc.
Twiggly found himself embracing the crisped, blackened re­
mains of the Fearless Leader.
“Oops!” he said, looking a little sheepish.
Actually, as a matter of fact, nobody seemed particularly upset
about Twiggly’s little accident. So we had very little trouble con­
vincing the remaining trolls to show us where the hostages were
hidden. We were led without incident to a small set of particu­
larly grimy catacombs where they were kept in chains. It turns
out they weren’t little at all. Some were even about 50 years old.
“Well, Kim Junk Ick had them captured when they were girls”
was the explanation.
As for treasure, the throne turned out to be gilded wood, and
we weren’t able to find anything else. The lackeys mumbled
something about swiss bank accounts by way of explanation.
Feeling some pity for their predicament, we offered them the ser­
vices of financial dragons. There’s no-one better at tracking
down hidden assets. But they keep half of what they find. That’s
the deal. The trolls said they’d give it some thought. Then we
returned to the surface with the hostages, who were crying for
joy. I didn’t think that any dragon would have the heart to eat
them after hearing their story, and when I heard where they came
from I figured that the Chinese dragons would be able to give

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Dragon Girl Myra

them a ride home, as it was on the way back for them. So we

brought them with us. I wasn’t disappointed.
When we got back to the assembly Myra and Genevra were at
the center of a circle surrounded by dancing dragons, singing a
beautiful song together. They were working the magic of dragon
maidens, and the dragons of the assembly were charmed, every
one of them.

* * *

The Grand Dragon Assembly continued with much fanfare

and celebration until just past midnight, when the Great Dragon
again took his place on the volcano, and with great dignity and
decorum, announced to everyone present, that as the morrow
would be a long day of travel for almost everyone, that it was of­
ficially Time For Bed. The dragons present all meekly complied,

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and soon the only sounds to be heard were the low rumbles of
dragons snoring.
Genevra and Myra found this to be a bit unnerving, but soon
drifted off to sleep anyway, lying atop the soft and smooth coils
of Evangeline and basking in the radiant warmth from Rex, who
strategically placed himself nearby for our comfort, and we en­
joyed a restful and happy night.
The next morning brought us the farewell screams of depart­
ing dragons and a long line of new friends who wanted to hug
Myra and Genevra before leaving.
“Why is everyone leaving this pretty island so quickly?” asked
Genevra at one point.
“Well, there certainly isn’t enough food nearby to feed every­
one. Not without us eating each other, or worse, going after
those cave trolls.” I explained.
“Heh heh heh. Yes, Dragon Assemblies tend to be either
short and sweet, or long and very ugly,” remarked Rex, chuck­
ling.
About midway through the morning Twiggly began to get a
little antsy, and finally he quietly announced that perhaps he
should get going as well. His wife was home looking after his
five young children, and leaving them alone while he was having
fun struck him as a little unfair.
“I didn’t know dragons married,” said Myra, a little thought­
fully.
“Well you know, they don’t do it very often. Not with their
cantankerous personalities,” said Twiggly, and then continuing a
bit under his breath “But you know, being tamed by a dragon
maiden would really rather help. I should think.” And Myra
suddenly looked very surprised.
Then Twiggly did his very best to suppress his natural electri­
city for a moment, and with careful concentration and much

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Dragon Girl Myra

care, warmly embraced Genevra and Myra and then flew away
while we waved goodbye.
All morning long the sky was filled with leathery flapping
wings and the seas boiled with monsters wriggling away. But by
noon, the departures had slowed to a trickle, and the line in front
of Myra and Genevra had vanished.
With the other dragons gone we were able to begin the rest of
our vacation, which between exploring the beautiful island we
were on, swimming in the clear ocean waters, and feasting on
fresh fish and tropical fruit, was a relaxing and enjoyable one.
Rex stayed with us for a couple days, and Myra and Genevra very
much enjoyed his clever bantering conversation and the way he
warmed the (somewhat chilly) ocean water when he bathed in it
along with us.
At the end of the week we were well rested, and Myra for one
was getting tired of fish. She even asked me once “Do you think
you might be able to find me a cow?” and I knew it was time to
head home. The winds were very favorable this time and the
weather good, so I resolved to fly Myra and Genevra some of the
way, and actually I was able to carry them most of the time on
the journey home. Traveling by herself below Evangeline was in­
credibly fast, flashing from crest to crest barely touching the wa­
ter, really flying more than swimming. I had trouble keeping up.
Close to home I saw a small pretty-looking sailboat sailing
tight to the wind with two half-dressed men on board, looking
very athletic but rather sunburned. I admired it quietly for a few
minutes wondering if Myra and Genevra would like sailing to­
gether on a boat like that, when I noticed something odd. The
sails were not as nice as the rest of the boat. In fact, they looked
like they might have been stitched together out of old clothing.
“Hey!” I exclaimed. “Those folks in the boat below, they’re
two of our old friends, the pirates!” and I began descending.

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“No! Nooooo!” Myra and Evangeline began screaming to­

gether. Quite spoiling my fun.
I leveled off, feeling rather disappointed.
“I was just going to say hello. Then sink their boat, and bring
them back to the island,” I whined.
“You can’t do that again! This will be the third time! They’ll
die of disappointment,” said Genevra, reprovingly.
But I was able to talk them into having a closer look anyway. I
hoped once they saw how pretty the boat was, they might want
to see how it looked in flames and then going to the bottom.
Just for the novelty. But when I got close, I felt rather differently
about it myself. It was really well made, miraculously so for a
few people shipwrecked on an island without any tools.
“Those fellows are wasted on the pirating trade. They’re a
first-rate bunch of shipwrights,” I observed.
So I went and had a chat with them. Luckily dragons are
rather like ducks in the way they float on water, and I was able to
land nearby on the ocean surface close enough to talk.
“Hello!” I called out, greeting them cheerfully.
They looked rather glumly back at me, and let the sails slacken
so that the boat came to a stop, correctly gauging that it wouldn’t
do to sail away when I wanted to talk to them.
“Going to sink our boat again?” asked the first one, with a face
full of resignation and foreboding.
“Well, that would be fun―
“No!” said Genevra.
“That’s a pretty fine boat you have there. You managed to
make that on the island?” I asked, unable to hide how impressed
I was. But it was obvious they had. It was entirely unpainted,
and the planks looked like they’d been shaped by hand, perhaps
even by pocket knives.

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“Nearly killed us. We used all the wood left on the island. We
were going for help to rescue the others,” said the second, some­
what more expansively.
There was a difficult moment of silence. I sensed Myra and
Genevra’s disapproving stare and I knew I’d have to help them
out somehow.
“Well, with talent like that, you folks can always find a job in a
shipyard. In fact, I have a good friend down the coast, who will
take you on if I put in a good word,” I said helpfully.
“Well thanks. That would be swell.”
“So we’ll be on our way now?” asked the second one, obvi­
ously an optimist by nature.
I smiled, showing them all my teeth.
“In gratitude for me letting you escape with your lives, perhaps
you’d like to give these lovely ladies that boat. After you rescue
your friends. And after you paint it and give it some proper sails.
What do you say?”
I always like to drive a hard bargain.
They weren’t very enthusiastic, but in the end had to agree,
and I let them go. It’s always nice to be in a good negotiating
position.
Then we returned home. It had been a great vacation (if a
little tiring) and Myra and Evangeline were ready to go back to
school.

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Dragon Girl Myra

Chapter 4
Some weeks later Myra came looking for me back in the cave
after finishing her homework. It was getting close to summer,
and I was making preparations for the hot weather.
“Scuba gear? You have scuba gear too?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s really quite essential for a mountain dragon. Under­
water transportation, you know.”
“And I thought I’d seen everything when you took out your
skis last weekend!”
It had been a while since I’d gone skiing, but I’d suddenly re­
membered that I had some old pairs of skis at the back of my
cave that might fit Genevra and Myra. And in fact they had, so
that weekend we all went up to the high mountain slopes where
there’s always snow and did some skiing. Which is a lot of fun,
especially if you have a dragon for a ski-lift.
“So now who are you going to get for a diving instructor?”
she asked with some curiosity.
“What makes you think I don’t know how to dive already?”
“I’ve seen how you swim,” retorted Myra.
It’s true, I’d never had much need for swimming. Up until re­
cently. But I was getting better. Rapidly. And now I was grow­
ing to like it.
“Well, did you know that Evangeline is a certified diving in­
structor?”
“I would never have guessed,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
A few days later we found ourselves at the beach, with Evan­
geline and Genevra patiently tutoring Myra and me on the ele­
ments of diving safety. I was glad to have such patient instruct­
ors, because, well, I’m not a natural swimmer. But I got the hang

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of it eventually. And after a number of weekends, we actually be­

came rather competent. We had great fun exploring undersea
with Genevra and Evangeline. The beautiful fish that Evangeline
always found to feed us were even more pretty up close, alive un­
derwater. Evangeline also knew the prettiest places to take us
and the most interesting shipwrecks.
Finally one day we greeted them at the beach and Evangeline
suddenly announced to us, “I think your diving is really good
enough. Would you like to come visit my cavern?”
I was speechless for a second. No dragon had ever invited me
to visit them at home.
“Do you think it would be OK, Myra?” I asked her, feeling
very unusually timid.
“Don’t be silly Bruce. We’d love to go Evangeline. I’ve heard
so much about how lovely it is from Genevra. Thank you for in­
viting us.”
And we were off to an entrance at the very upper reaches of
Evangeline’s cavern, one of the few that were reachable with or­
dinary scuba gear.
Evangeline led us to a branch of the cavern that headed up­
ward, and after swimming for a few minutes, we reached an air-
filled part of it and were able to walk normally on the cave floor.
The cavern, just as Evangeline had said, was lined floor to ceiling
with gold, and glittered brilliantly with it. It was beautiful, but
even I, after a while, had to admit that it got to be a little tiring
on the eyes. Just as I was reaching that point, beautiful pictures
began appearing on the walls. She could paint them in the dry
parts of the cave above water, and she had. There were breath-
taking seascapes and under-sea landscapes, portraits of fantastic
undersea monsters, and last of all, a very dignified, warmly smil­
ing picture of me. Drawn entirely from memory.
Evangeline turned to me when I saw it, smiled, and kindly
asked us if we might like some tea. Blushing madly I quickly

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agreed. We shared a long, happy afternoon together with our

dragon maidens, telling old stories from our very long dragon
lives while the girls listened with rapt attention, laughing at all the
funny points, crying at the sad ones, and reproaching us for the
bad ones. It was a wonderful afternoon. I learned a lot about
Evangeline.
Later on I flew Myra home. I landed in front of her house and
let her climb off my back. Instead of running up to the door and
saying goodbye as she usually did she turned to me and said, in a
reproving tone of voice,
“Just how long are you thinking of playing with Evangeline’s
feelings?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t you going to ask her to marry you?”
“Well it would be a bit unseemly. To ask a wealthy dragoness
with a hoard like that. It might look like I was trying to get my
hands on it,” I observed, pointing out a rather obvious, basic
point in dragon etiquette.
“Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“But you know, Evangeline wouldn’t have invited me to her
cave unless she had a good reason. And she did.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. When you and Genevra left us alone for a few minutes.
She asked me. And of course I agreed.”
Myra grabbed me by the neck, placed a heavy kiss on my
cheek, then wheeled about and ran up the steps to her house.
“Congratulations Bruce. We’ll have our work cut out for us
planning the wedding,” she said as she reached the door. “Text
you in the morning?”

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“If you like.” I’d given her a phone recently. Her parents
hadn’t liked the idea, but I’d persuaded them. “If the weather’s
good I’ll come fly you to school.”
“Thanks Bruce. Good night!” and she was in the door.
I floated home, buoyed up by thoughts of love and new hopes
for happiness. Not the usual feelings for an old dragon heart,
but they had come easily, and they were very welcome.

* * *

Dust rose from a herd of cattle where it was being driven into
a large compound at the edge of the village. I was holding nails
in my lips as I helped hammer together the platform for the cere­
mony, which was proving to be something of a chore to as­
semble. The workmen helping me kept having trouble believing
me when I told them what size to use for the supporting beams.
But it would have to carry any number of dragons.
“That’s really all we need to do? It’s not very complicated is it,
a dragon wedding ceremony,” commented Myra, as she stood by
supervising the activity.
“Good fresh food and a place to celebrate. That’s all you
really need. As it is, it was expensive enough assembling that
herd of cattle.” I nodded over to the enclosure at the edge of the
field.
We’d also had to pay the fishing fleet in Genevra’s village not
to fish nearby for the entire previous two months. It had cost a
pretty penny, but sea dragons need their food fresh, and the wa­
ters offshore were now teeming with fish according to Evan­
geline.
I looked over seaward, thinking of Evangeline, whose prepara­
tions below the sea surface were keeping her as busy as me. I’d

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see the result first-hand with diving equipment for the second
part of the ceremony.
Two sails had appeared offshore. One was from a well-built
fishing vessel, and the other a small, single-masted sailboat. The
sailors on the larger boat began to raise a flag. A pirate banner.
And then I noticed the newly painted name on the smaller one.
The Genevra. Its sail had a large dragon painted on it too.
“Hey, it’s our friends the pirates! They must be coming for
the ceremony!”
The pirates had done well for themselves. Genevra had really
been most insistent that I help them get set up in business, since
I’d completely put them out of the old one they had been in, so
I’d paid to help them start up their own shipyard. It had cost
more than I wanted to think about. But as it turned out, they
really were proving to be good at that work, and were earning a
reputation for making especially seaworthy sailing vessels. Their
trademark (Pirate Built™) was well known, and they were even
starting to style themselves ‘Purveyors to Dragons.’ That little
boat I’d wheedled out of them was beginning to look like a clever
business decision for them. But I really couldn’t complain. The
investment Genevra had talked me into was turning out to be
rather lucrative.
We walked down to the shore together in order to greet them.
Despite the bustle of wedding activity, Genevra’s village was
really rather empty. Most of the villagers had reacted to the news
of the impending dragon wedding with something other than de­
light, and the number of human guests was starting to look a
little small, which suited me, and made Myra and Genevra’s job
of planning for them much simpler.
I greeted the pirate leader with a handshake out on the wharf,
and he congratulated me on the impending ceremony.
“I’ never thought I’d raise that flag in this village again and get
a friendly welcome!” he said with delight.

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“Half the fishermen here are saving up for one of your boats.
It’s looking like a good business,” I said, congratulating him in
turn. Then he turned to Myra and Genevra, and presented them
with their new sailboat, explaining some of the finer points of the
additions that they had made. I was especially happy with an art­
fully carved figure of Evangeline at the prow.
Then we said goodbye, as the pirates had other business to at­
tend to. “Sales work you know.” They said they would try to
pass by tomorrow during the ceremony in order to cheer us on.
The next morning reminded us a lot of the Grand Assembly
again, as all manner of Dragons arrived slithering ashore and at a
scream from overhead. Twiggly arrived mid-morning, this time
bringing his wife and his children, who were literally hanging
from him, their mouths full of sharp little teeth firmly clamped
on to various parts of him, and the entire assembly showering
little electrical sparks.
“Hi Twiggly! You brought the whole family!” I said, delighted.
Twiggly came up and gave me a hug, which I’m afraid to say,
because of the excitement was a little electrified. Two of his chil­
dren then transferred themselves to me.
“Why you guys are really cute! What’s your name? Ow! Hey,
turn down the voltage!” I said to them, with a funny mixture of
joy and pain.
“It’s a lucky thing that dragon hide is so tough, isn’t it,” re­
marked Myra as she admired all the little teeth exposed by the
children who were now smiling, completely charmed by her.
A short while later the Great Dragon arrived and the cere­
mony got underway. Twiggly and Rex were by my side. Rex was
stationed on a small fire-proof section of the stage made just for
him, and the reassuring warmth of his radiance calmed my nerves
a little as I hoped it would. But I was still trembling slightly.

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“Now Evangeline,” began the Great Dragon, “you really want

to marry this old rascal?” he said nodding to me. “You could do
better you know.”

“Yes I do. I don’t think I could do better,” she said, cheering

me up immensely.
“And um. Bruce. Since you aren’t crazy, I imagine there’s no
way I could talk you out of marrying Evangeline, is there?” he
asked me, somewhat circuitously.
“Not a chance,” I declared quietly with deep conviction.
“Well then, let’s just read through the marriage contract, and
we’ll get the festivities underway,” he said, pulling out a thick
sheaf of papers and clearing his throat. Drafted by legal dragons,
it was an imposing document, and I wasn’t looking forward to
wading through it.
There was a loud dragon scream, then the soft tearing sound
of flesh being ripped apart by the dragons in the audience.

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I turned to Myra. “Looks like they’re getting started on the

cows.”
Amid the crunching of bones, I saw that a number of other
dragons were going in search of their own snacks to nibble on.
“Do they always do this during the ceremony?” asked Myra.
“Well the legal formalities are always a little dry and boring. It
helps to liven up the proceedings,” said Evangeline, smiling at
the horrified look on the girls’ faces.
“You might want to watch the rest of the ceremony from the
deck of your boat. We’re going to get knee deep in blood where
we are here,” I suggested to them.
“Oh and before you go,” said Evangeline, “there’s something
else we wanted to tell you.”
“Yes.” I agreed. “You know all those presents we gave you?
Well we want them to be real presents that really belong to you.”
“Instead of being part of our treasure, we’d like to think of
you as just really good friends,” finished Evangeline.
Myra and Genevra laughed. “That’s what I think you’ve al­
ways been,” replied Myra, and they skipped off holding hands to
their boat together, amid the shrieks of dragons, the moans of
expiring livestock and the droning of the Great Dragon as he
read the marriage contract.

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The End
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